Resistance to buckling is an important quality for many elongated structural members used under compressive loads. By improving resistance to buckling, better compressive load performance can be achieved. In addition, increased resistance to buckling allows smaller, and therefore lighter and less expensive, members to be advantageously used in applications where these qualities are important. Consequently, extensive studies have been made of how to improve the buckling resistance of elongated structural members under compressive loads.
Typically, the prior art has attempted to improve buckling resistance by applying radially compressive loads in order to increase the straightness of an elongated structural member (i.e., column). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,178,141 to Frame discloses the cold-straightening of well casings by applying radially compressive loads incrementally and progressively along the casing length. As a result of the radial compression, residual stresses in the casing are reduced, giving them an increased resistance to buckling.